In a vehicle, such as an aircraft, electric power supplied by a generator or another device is used to power control devices, such as aircraft ailerons, flaps, rudders, other control surfaces, and other electric motor devices and controllers to direct the motion of the vehicle as well as other electric motor devices and controllers. A significant quantity of electrical power is supplied to actuators, which may include electric motors, where the electrical power is converted into mechanical power to control the motion of the vehicle.
For example, in an aircraft, electrical power may be carried via a bus to the actuators physically coupled to ailerons to provide power to the ailerons to control the attitude of the aircraft. On the other hand, as a result of aerodynamic forces, turbulence and atmospheric conditions, externally-applied mechanical pressure applied to the ailerons may result in the actuator being back-driven (or forward-driven) which results in generating electrical power that results in a decrease in the energy required from power generation devices. Similarly, directional reversals due to the electric motor inertia, such as also may result in generating electrical power. The electrical power generated by the motors and other actuators as a result of the externally-applied forces, when joined with the electrical power supplied by the power generation devices to the actuators, may result in excess electrical power being carried on the bus.
Conventionally, the excess electrical power on the bus may be dissipated by directing the excess electrical power, in the form of a flow of electric current, to a dedicated resistive load where the electric current is dissipated as heat. Dumping the excess electrical energy by directing an electric current through a dedicated resistive load is wasteful and generally undesirable due to thermal impacts to the system.